


Across The Sea

by padfootagain



Category: Chronicles of Narnia (Movies), Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types, Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Romantic Fluff, Soulmates, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-13 19:27:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16898529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/padfootagain/pseuds/padfootagain
Summary: Caspian is following the compass carved in his arm to find his soulmate, but how far will he have to go to finally reach her?





	Across The Sea

**Author's Note:**

> Just fluff, I hope you like this! Tell me what you think about it!

The compass on his arm kept on pointing at the sea. The infinite blue sea, cut by waves and shining with the reflection of the sun on its surface. Caspian looked down at the mark on his arm, the little arrow carved in his skin pointing towards the horizon barely visible between the blue of the sky and the slightly darker shade of the salty water. He had been staring at the arrow his entire life, knowing that it pointed towards his soulmate. But the sea was a barrier that was hard to overcome, and she never seemed to come to the Narnian shores, as the compass never changed direction.

He left his dark brown eyes drift towards the boat that would carry him across the ocean in just a few hours now. He had to find her, the woman that was meant to spend her life with him. He couldn’t wait for fate to make them meet anymore. He needed to see her.

It was a common thing in Narnia after all, people could travel across the whole kingdom to find their soulmate, so the King’s decision to travel across the sea to find the woman he would love until his very last breath was a surprise to no one in Narnia. On the contrary, Lords had offered their help in his search for her. Words had spread throughout the nearby islands, and everyone in and around Narnia knew about Caspian’s quest. But he only needed one boat to find her. A boat, and the faith that the arrow on his forearm would not betray him and guide him to her.

He didn’t know how far her home was, so he had prepared the sailors for a long journey. Perhaps in a week he would be back with her. Perhaps it would take months to reach the right island, he had no clue.

“Your Majesty,” Reepicheep called from behind Caspian. “Everything is ready for tomorrow. The ship is filled with supplies, as ordered.”

Caspian merely nodded, curling his toes in the wet sand as a wave hit his ankles.

“We’ll leave at dawn,” Caspian commanded, and the mouse merely bowed, before turning around to relay the order to the crew.

But Caspian stopped his friend as he broke the silence around them again.

“Reep,” he called, making the knight of Narnia stop and turn around once more. “Thank you. For coming with me.”

The mouse merely smiled.

“It will always be my pleasure to help and travel with you, my Liege.”

“You’ve never told me if you had ever found your soulmate.”

“Not yet. But the day will come, sooner or later. I am in no hurry. Fate will guide me to her when the time is right.”

“Do you think… do you think I should wait?”

“I think that call to go to her is precisely fate calling for you.”

Caspian smiled.

“Always the right words, Reep, huh?”

“I try.”

They exchanged a laugh, and the mouse hurried away towards the boat again, while Caspian lost his gaze in the calm ocean once more. The water against his feet and ankles was cold, the contrast with the falling and yet still warm sun pleasant and vivid. He breathed deeply the smell of salt and seaweeds, and he wondered for a moment if the fact that you lived across the sea was the reason why he loved sailing so much. Perhaps he just loved the only way he would ever have to get to you.

——————————————————————

His coming to the island where you lived was a secret to no one. His arrival had been learnt weeks before, right after the King’s journey had begun and words had spread that he was heading towards your direction.

You were nervous. Every single person on the island was nervous. And secretly, most people hoped to be the King’s soulmate.

It meant getting away from that tiny bit of rocks. It meant going to the mainland, what you had dreamt about since you were a child old enough to understand that the world was bigger than your island, and that the sea was just a barrier to reach a bigger world, not the end of it.

But as you looked down at the broom you were holding, you heaved a sigh. You doubted that the King’s soulmate was an average woman like you. You were just… cleaning. The daughters of the Lord you were working for had good chances though : a title, the right age, money, beautiful looks and wonderful dresses. And you were… you… the cleaning woman that would repair all the things that had been broken after the party that would celebrate the love of the King of Narnia to one of the Lord’s daughters.

You were not complaining about your life. The Lord and his family treated you with kindness, for the most part. A little bit of disdain, from time to time, could cross their features as they looked at you, but you were paid fairly, had a roof above your head, and were able to pay for all that you needed. And you kept on telling yourself that it was enough.

“Y/N! I need your advice!” Maria called for you, peering out of her bedroom with excitement. “Can you help me?”

“Of course, Miss Maria,” you nodded, giving up on your broom to help the young woman.

“I don’t know which dress I should wear if the King comes to our house,” Maria explained, showing you her large wardrobe filled with delicately sewed dresses. “Oh, how I wish he could come here and take me away. Can you imagine? If I was the one?”

“It would be wonderful, Miss Maria,” you nodded.

“And perhaps you could go with me to the mainland!” she offered. “I would still need your help, you know. I’m sure I could bring a maid.”

You smiled, nodding excitedly.

“I would love to go with you, Miss Maria. If your father agrees.”

“Oh, I’m sure he will!”

She gave you a hug, letting out an excited shriek, before focusing on her clothes again.

“So, which dress should I wear?”

You gave her a tender smile, before helping her with her dress.

No, your life was not that bad after all…

So why did you keep on dreaming about leaving with the King?

—————————————————————–

His compass was showing him the right path. He knew it, deep down, and by every day that passed by, he felt closer to his soulmate. He could feel that he was coming closer and closer. Everyday, the King’s smile was wider on his face, more excited, more hopeful than the one that was painted on his features the day before. He wanted to meet her, and he was about to. He had crossed the ocean to reach her, and he was so close… she was like a ghost in the distance, almost tangible, almost in arm’s length…

“Are you sure this is the right island?” Drinian asked the King.

Caspian nodded, the smile on his lips never faltering.

“I’m sure. She’s here, somewhere… I can feel it. She’s here.”

Drinian nodded, a smile forming across his face as well. Caspian’s happiness was contagious and the whole crew was getting excited by now. Caspian was a good king and a fair companion to travel with across the seas, all aboard the Dawn Treader wished nothing less for their leader than to find love on this island.

When they finally crossed the narrow channel surrounded with high cliffs leading to the port of the island, they could notice a large crowd assembled there, in the little town that used to be filled with only fishermen. Now though, it was buzzing with an excited crowd.

“I hope for you that you were not hoping to make a discreet arrival, Your Majesty,” Drinian joked mischievously, making Caspian laugh.

“I was actually. But I guess I’ll have to deal with the etiquette before meeting her.”

“Perhaps she will be there.”

“I hope not,” Caspian breathed more softly, a worried expression making him frown now. “I was hoping to get… well… something more intimate.”

“I understand. And I hope you find her here.”

“Thank you, Drinian. Thank you, for everything.”

The old sailor seemed touched by the King’s words, and his throat tightened as he answered.

“It will always be the highest of honours to travel under your command, Your Majesty.”

He walked away to give orders to his men, and didn’t hear the words Caspian spoke then with a soft voice.

“The honour is all mine, my friend.”

——————————————–

Caspian was greeted by the Lords that ruled the land, and he was invited for a feast that he couldn’t refuse, even if he was in a hurry. He suppressed his desire to look at the arrow on his skin all night long. He didn’t want to find her this way, he wanted to see her alone.

The next morning, he asked for the Lords to leave him alone in his search for her, and they all understood his desire for a private meeting with his soulmate. So, only accompanied by Reepicheep and Drinian, Caspian crossed the island, following the direction that his compass kept on guiding him to. Until he was close enough for Maria to recognize him as she looked by her window.

“The King is coming!” she warned the whole house with a shout, and in the blink of an eye, the two daughters and their parents were gathered in the living room.

“I knew it would be one of you!” the Lord excitedly proclaimed. “I knew it! Come on, make sure to both fix your hair, and don’t be jealous if it is your sister who is chosen. Y/N, prepare some tea for the King and the Lords that accompany him. Hurry up! And bring cakes too.”

“Yes, my Lord,” you nodded, before hurrying in the kitchen.

You carefully prepared the tea, and cakes, making sure that everything was perfect, while Caspian finally knocked on the large house doors.

“Your Majesty, it is an honour,” the Lord said, bending down low before the King of Narnia. “How may we help you.”

“I’m sorry to arrive in your home unannounced,” Caspian apologized, and he knew that despite his efforts, he sounded nervous. “I am in search for…”

“For your soulmate, yes of course! Everyone around the island knows.”

“Sir, it would seem that my compass is leading… here. In your house. After all, no one lives between your home and the sea, I think…”

“No, indeed, we are the last house before the cliffs. But come in, My Liege, come inside. Our maid is preparing tea and cakes. Our youngest daughter saw you coming from her window.”

He introduced his family to the King. And Caspian kept on glancing at the compass on his arm as he met the Lord’s daughters. But his compass kept on pointing on the opposite direction, not towards the two young women before him.

“So… which one of us is it?” Maria asked excitedly.

But by the look of disappointment on his face, she could see the truth right away.

“It’s not one of us…” she shook her head.

“I’m sorry,” Caspian breathed, before turning to the Lord again. “Isn’t there anyone else here, in the house?”

“Well… only our maid but I doubt that she could be…”

He was interrupted by the sound of a silver tray filled with cups of tea falling to the ground.

Because you knew. Even if then you just saw his back, the way your heart leapt in your chest, the way you just froze, the butterflies in your stomach… right away you knew. No need to check the compass on your arm, you knew that Caspian was your soulmate.

The sharp sounds of teacups breaking made everyone in the room jump, and Caspian quickly spun around, only to freeze.

His heart stopped dead, his stomach started to make strange flip-flops, his whole body was shaking.

He had found his soulmate… he had found _you_.

You didn’t know what crossed your mind. Fear, panic, the strange sensation of everybody looking at you… you didn’t know, perhaps it was a bit of everything… but you just turned around and left, leaving a stunned Caspian behind and running for the door.

“No, wait!” you heard him calling after you, and you heard his boot crashing the porcelain of the broken teacups as he hurried behind you.

He followed you outside the house, and reached you as you stopped around the corner, leaning against the stone wall.

As you were not running away anymore, merely catching your breath, Caspian slowly approached you, before revealing the compass on his arm. And the arrow was pointing at you.

“May I, My Lady?”

Lady? No one had ever called you like this… but you didn’t reply, not with words. Instead, you revealed the compass carved in your own skin, and the arrow was pointing at Caspian.

He let out a nervous, relieved laugh, before approaching you again. He raised his hand to your cheek, just to check that you were real, that it was true, that he had finally found you.

You gave him a bright smile as your eyes suddenly filled with tears, but Caspian jumped, realizing that he had been touching you, and he took a step back.

“I’m sorry… I… I shouldn’t have, not so soon… I mean,” he stuttered, for once in his life, finding himself at a complete loss for words. “I’m Caspian.”

You couldn’t hold back a shy laugh.

“I know who you are,” you smiled. “I’m Y/N.”

“Y/N…”

He spoke your name softly, as if he tasted the way it felt on his tongue.

“It's…”

He let out a laugh again, looking down at his feet nervously.

“I’ve been thinking about this moment for years and imagined a thousand different speeches for this specific occasion and now… I don’t know what to say.”

“Me neither,” you chuckled.

He looked up at you again, and you timidly extended your hand towards him, a silent invitation for him to stop thinking for a moment. He enlaced his fingers with yours, walking closer to you again.

“Thank you,” you breathed.

“What for, Y/N?”

“Finding me.”

You exchanged a bright smile. He wanted to kiss you, but didn’t know if it was appropriate. Yes, you were his soulmate, but still, you had barely met…

“Your Majesty…”

“Caspian,” he corrected you, and your smile widened at his invitation for this immediate intimacy.

“Caspian, what is going to happen now?”

“Now? I… well, I guess we should spend some time together, and learn to know each other. And after a few weeks, if you want, you can come with me back in Narnia and…”

“To the mainland?”

“Yes.”

You grinned more than you had ever smiled.

It was a dream coming true, both love and a new adventure, a new life, all at once…

“I want to go with you.”

He let out a laugh.

“Don’t you think that you should think about it? Know me more?”

You slowly nodded, but somehow, he could read in your eyes that you had made up your mind, and that your decision would not change. And indeed, it didn’t.

The more Caspian and you spent time together, the more the two of you fell irrevocably in love with each other, and that night when you kissed by the sea, on the beach bathed in the red light of sunset, there was no turning back.

So a few days later, you were climbing on the Dawn Treader, Caspian showing you the whole boat with an excited and almost childish joy on his face. Maria accompanied you to the mainland, to live in the Castle with you.

And Caspian carried you all the way across the sea, for a brand new life you knew would be filled with nothing but love and bright days.


End file.
